China's central SOEs post record growth in first eight months

BEIJING - China's centrally-administered State-owned enterprises (SOEs) saw the strongest-ever growth both in revenue and profits for January-August, the chief of the State assets watchdog said Thursday.

"In the first eight months, China's central SOEs reported a 15.7 percent increase in business revenue and a 17.3 percent growth in total profits, both historical highs," said Xiao Yaqing, chairman of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.

Under the government's supply-side structural reform, central SOEs have also made considerable progress in excess capacity cuts and leverage control.

"From January to August, China's central SOEs beat government-set targets by reducing 16.14 million tons of steel capacity and 55.1 million tons of coal capacity," Xiao told a press conference.

He also revealed that by the end of August, the average debt-to-asset ratio of China's central SOEs dropped to 66.5 percent, 0.2 percentage points lower than the beginning of this year.

With government reform and restructuring efforts gradually paying off, Chinese central SOEs have been increasingly efficient and competitive over the last five years.

"By the end of 2016, total assets of China's central SOEs reached 50.5 trillion yuan (about $7.62 trillion), an 80 percent jump from the end of 2011," Xiao said.

China's cabinet said Wednesday that more work should be done to advance the restructuring of the central SOEs, especially in equipment manufacturing, coal, electricity, communications and chemical industries.

Since 2013, more than 30 central SOEs have been restructured, including a merger between two of China's top bullet train makers and that between two major steel makers.